Loftia How to Play: Your First 30 Minutes in the Demo

The Next Fest demo of Loftia drops you into the opening Loftia City questline: meet the NPCs, salvage resources, grow crops, and decorate a home in the shared neighborhood. A first session that works goes like this — claim your character name, run the Loftia City questline, buy seeds from Hazel the Seed Shop Owner, hold R to open the tool wheel, plant what the quest asks for, and reach the Player Neighborhood inside 10 minutes to unlock the Demo Banner. The demo is free October 19 to 26 (October 20 to 27 in Beijing time), caps every proficiency at Level 5, and stops the questline right before the Hanging Gardens. Early Access opens November 3, 2026 at 1pm EST (November 4, 02:00 in Beijing).

• One character per account. The name carries into Early Access, but only if you log in between November 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027.
• Level 5 is a demo cap. The full cap and the Perks tree arrive with Early Access on November 3, 2026.

Official source: Loftia - Steam Next Fest demo page

Your first ten minutes in the demo

The demo went live October 19 at 1pm EDT. Grab it from the Steam store page for Loftia or the standalone demo store page.

Account setup is the part people rush. Loftia stores demo progress against a loftia.gg account, so link your email in-game as soon as you are in — without it, rewards and progress cannot be recovered. Pick your name carefully too: the demo allows one character per account, and a name claimed during the Next Fest is released to other players if you do not log into Early Access between November 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027. The character creation guide covers what you can change first.

After the opening cutscene, the objective is the Loftia City questline: NPCs to meet, resource nodes to salvage, and your first planting.

Official source: Loftia demo launch announcement on Steam

The fastest early win is the Demo Banner, unlocked the first time you enter the Player Neighborhood — reachable within 10 minutes. Inviting friends adds the Pebble Chair at one invite and the Pebble Couch at two.

How to plant seeds without losing ten minutes

Seeds are the most common early stumble, and the cause is official, not a misunderstanding on your side. Two things are going on.

First, quest seeds, or seeds you bought from Hazel, can sit invisible in your bag. The published fix is a hold, not a click: hold down R (or the matching gamepad button) to open your tool wheel, then left-click the item to add it from your inventory. The tool wheel is where quest items live, so a normal bag check comes up empty.

Second, the tutorial prompt for that wheel was easy to miss, so the developers reworked it in the first demo patch. It now appears during the planting step, stays visible for up to four minutes, and only dismisses once you open the wheel. The patch note says it plainly: this should help anyone who was having trouble finding their carrot seeds.

Official source: Loftia Demo - Patch notes #1 (October 21, 2026)

The farming basics guide covers how growing and energy connect; the crops list shows which crops are confirmed. Hazel is one of the fifteen official NPCs and the only seed source the developers name.

On plots: the demo caps the currency players call Dew, and players report it blocking the larger plots — one community report mentions 5,000 Dew and 10,000 Dew plots. That is community-reported, not official. The salvaging and fragments guide covers where salvage materials come from.

The other friction points worth knowing first

The developers' own wording is on the official news page. The patch notes and known issues guide and the controls and gamepad guide have the rest.

What the demo leaves out, and when you get it

Nothing in the demo spoils Early Access, and nothing in the demo is the final version of a system.

The demo World Project is a birthday party for Pebble, the resident chinchilla, dated November 3, 2026 — the day Early Access opens. The Hanging Gardens guide and the pets guide cover what arrives after launch.

Controller, Deck, and solo play

The official FAQ states that Loftia is fully playable with a controller or gamepad alongside keyboard and mouse, and that it supports the Steam Deck. The Steam store metadata lists the game under Partial Controller Support — that is the store's own category, not a contradiction of the developer's wording. Both are current as of the October 2026 Steam Next Fest demo. The Steam Deck and performance guide covers the shader-load CPU spikes the first demo patch reduced.

Loftia is always online, on every platform, because it is an MMO. Playing solo does not block progress, almost all content is reachable alone, and servers are not locked, so you can move between them to find friends.

Official source: Loftia official FAQ

Before October 26, do these three things

1. Link your loftia.gg account in-game. Rewards and progress cannot be recovered otherwise.
2. Log into Early Access between November 3, 2026 and February 3, 2027 if you care about your name.
3. Read the demo progress and carryover guide before assuming anything resets — almost nothing does.

The demo also shows what a live MMO population looks like: as of October 22, 2026, 220 Steam reviews at 80.9% positive, rated Very Positive, and 2,616 players in the demo. Those numbers move daily.

FAQ

Where do I buy seeds in Loftia? Hazel is the official Seed Shop Owner and the only seed seller the developers name. Buy from her, then check the tool wheel for the item.

Why can I not find my carrot seeds? They are usually in the tool wheel, not the inventory list. Hold down R (or the matching gamepad button) and left-click the item to add it. Since the first demo patch, the tool wheel prompt also stays on screen for up to four minutes during the planting step.

Does my Loftia demo progress carry over to Early Access? Yes. Completed quests, collected items, character progression, and your character name all carry over, so the demo is worth playing for real progress.

Can I play Loftia with a controller or on Steam Deck? The official FAQ says Loftia is fully playable with controller or gamepad and supports the Steam Deck. The Steam store lists Partial Controller Support as its category. In the demo, settings navigation needs the D-Pad; thumbsticks do not work.

Is the Loftia demo free, and when does it end? Free October 19 to 26, 2026 (October 20 to 27 in Beijing time), alongside the October Steam Next Fest. The full game opens in Early Access on November 3, 2026 at 1pm EST, at US$29.99 with a 17% launch discount and regional pricing — the price guide has the details.

Related Guides

• Loftia City Guide: The Demo District — the district the demo questline covers, area by area.
• Loftia Farming Basics: Solarpunk Growing Methods — how growing, energy, and the three farming lines connect.
• Loftia Character Creation: Customization Options — what you can change before you commit to a name.
• Loftia Demo Progress and What Carries Over — exactly what survives the demo and what does not.
• Loftia Patch Notes and Known Issues List — every official fix and open bug in one place.